Wash

If you’re interested in home distilling, you may have come across the term “wash.” Wash is the starting point of distillation and is transformed into spirits during the distillation process.

What Is Wash?

Wash is a pre-distilled liquid made from sugar or grains, water, and yeast. Yeast ferments the sugar in the wash, producing alcohol.

Use of Yeast in Wash

Yeast is essential to the making of wash. It breaks down the sugars in the wash and produces alcohol. There are two types of yeast usually used in home distilling, dry yeast and liquid yeast. Dry yeast is usually easier to find and less expensive than liquid yeast.

Yeast is available in various strains, and each strain has a unique flavor profile, making it more suited to make certain types of spirits. With air stills, yeast usage includes using Turbo Yeast or Distiller’s Yeast.